


Fade Away

by wolfy_writing



Category: Community (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 20:04:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfy_writing/pseuds/wolfy_writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reasons you should stay?  One by one they'll all just fade away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fade Away

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers through S5, will be AU when S6 comes out.

_January_

"And I now declare the new Shirley's Sandwiches open!"

Jeff applauded as the ribbon was cut. 

Shirley turned to the study group.  "I'd like to thank all of you.  I don't know what I'd have done without you."

"We're all proud of you," said Britta. 

"Yeah."  Jeff nodded.  "You deserve this."

"Aw!"  Annie ran up and gave Shirley a hug.

Abed tilted his head.  "Good luck."

"Thank you!  And I hope to see all of you around Shirley's sandwiches real soon!"

"We'll be your best customers," said Annie. 

Abed tapped Jeff on the elbow.  "Jeff, is this a socially appropriate time to step outside and discuss things?"

"Not really," said Jeff.  "Can it wait?  It'd be nice not to mess up Shirley's big day."

Abed looked thoughtful.   "Good point.  "I'll meet you in the parking lot in ten minutes."

—

"I'm worried about the group," said Abed.  "We're losing people.  This is not good.  First Pierce, then Troy, now Shirley."

"We haven't lost Shirley.  Yeah, she's not a student at Greendale, but she's still here in town.  I'm sure we'll see her..."

"Intermittently."  Abed cut Jeff off.  "She'll be downgraded from series regular to special guest.  She has a business now, and she already had kids.  That separates her from the rest of the group.  Plus, she's married, so there's no potential for romantic subplots, which reduces her total screen time.  The sandwich shop has been her only source of narrative direction, and now that it's done, she's been spun off into her own story."

"Abed..."

"Her sandwich shop is a twenty-three-minute drive from the school, and you're the only one in the group who owns a car.  That means we can't eat here on our lunches.  Are we going to get sandwiches for dinner?  No.  So Shirley's out."  Abed began pacing.  "I think Annie's next.  She's intelligent, employable, already completed her general education requirements, plus you and her seem pretty committed to the just friends things.  It'd be easy to have her transfer out to a better program.  Then she could fight crime and find an age-appropriate love interest.  That leaves you me and Britta.  Britta could be spun off into a comically inept therapist in California.  And I'm not sure how long you're going to last.  To be honest, Jeff, I'm kind of scared for you."

Jeff blinked.  "What?"

“You don’t do well without the group, and I don’t see a happy ending on the horizon.  You and Britta pretty much fizzled out, and I don’t see you and Annie ending up with a real relationship. Career-wise, your last run at a legal career ruined you financially and sent you back into your evil ways.  Plus, that overdose thing was kind of dark, and we never really addressed that.  If you get a depressing ending, that’s it for the group.  After that Rachel will leave.  She's great, but people tend to put up with me best in small doses, and without the group as a buffer, she’ll break up with me.  I'll be a socially impaired loner eating buttered noodles in an empty apartment.  No one would watch that.  It's too depressing.  I want to get us to the happy ending, but I’m not sure how.”

"Hey."  Britta stepped outside.  "What's going on?"

"I think Abed's having some kind of freakout," Jeff said. 

"If we moved to California," said Abed, "I could do filmmaking while Britta did therapy for celebrities.  Kind of cheesy, but some good potential for guest shots.  Annie could be a detective.  LA's a good location for crime drama.  If we could persuade Shirley to move, that takes care of almost everyone."  He turned to Britta.  "I don't know what to do about Jeff."

"Believe me," said Britta.  "I know that problem.  What's this about?"

Jeff sighed.  "He thinks the group is breaking up, you and Annie are going to leave for awesome careers, and Rachel is going to dump him for being too weird.”  He rolled his eyes. 

“And something bad’s going to happen to Jeff,” said Abed.

“What’s going to happen to Jeff?” asked Britta.

Jeff snorted.  "Don't bother.  It's Abed-logic.  The thing is, we're not all going to split up and never see each other again just because Shirley's new restaurant is on the other side of town."

"Ooh, separation anxiety!  We just covered that in class!"  Britta put up her hands.  "What we need is to develop a plan for dealing with anxiety-provoking situations."

"I agree," said Abed.  "I've worked out a tentative plan to transplant the rest of the group to California, but unless one of you wants to marry Jeff, I’m not sure what do about him.”

Annie stepped outside, followed by Shirley.  “Why do we need to do something about Jeff?”

“Abed’s having a…thing”  Jeff gestured.  “He’s afraid the group's breaking up.”

“I ran the scenarios,” said Abed.  “And if we don’t do something, I give us sixteen months until the last of you is gone.”

“Abed,” said Annie, “Remember that talk we had about scenarios?  They’re interesting, but not very accurate.”

“Shirley left.”

"Aw, sweetie!"  Shirley put a hand on Abed's shoulder.  “I'm still here.  I’ll be here for a while.  And I'll be opening up a Shirley's sandwiches on campus real soon."

"Yeah!" said Britta.  "And I've got years before I finish my masters in psychology.  We're going to be here for a while.  And nothing’s going to happen to Jeff.”

Shirley glanced over.  “Did Abed say something was going to happen to Jeff?”

“It’s nothing,” said Jeff.  “It’s like Annie said - the scenarios aren’t accurate.”

“That video series of Abed’s was pretty accurate,” said Shirley.  “Abed, what’s going to happen to Jeff?”

“I think he’s going to get killed off.  His storyline has been pretty dark lately.”

Jeff looked at Abed.  "Way to not ruin Shirley's big day."

"It's okay," said Shirley, her voice taking on an extra lilt.  "I don't mind at all.  Because I'm here for all of you, and don't mind taking time out of my day to help Abed and Jeff with their problems."

"My only problem is that Abed keeps telling people I have a problem."

"Jeff's right," said Abed. 

"Thank you!"

"Not just then.  That was just you pretending everything's okay because you're afraid people won't like you if you're needy.  But we shouldn't ruin Shirley's big day.  I think we've got at least four months before anyone else leaves.  I should be able to come up with a plan.”

—

Jeff decided to forget the whole thing.  It was Abed-nonsense.  Still thinking like it was all a sitcom.  There wasn't going to be some weird California sitcom, or Annie starring in some gritty law-enforcement show of her own...

Jeff took a sip of scotch.  Admittedly, he would watch the hell out of that show if it existed.  But it didn't.  Yeah, it was only a matter of time until some place better than Greendale realized how amazing Annie was and snapped her up.  And Shirley would probably be around less.  But Britta was planning to stay until she became a fully qualified and competent therapist, and it was going to take a long time for her to realize how bad of an idea that was.  And Jeff was fine. 

They weren't going to leave Abed alone. 

—

_March_

“A film scholarship?” said Annie.  “That’s wonderful!”

Jeff gave Abed a slap on the back.  “Abed’s going to Hollywood!  Congratulations.”

“Los Angeles will be so exciting!  Let me know if you meet any big celebrities.”  Shirley smiled and passed around a plate.  “Cookies?”  She smiled at Britta.  “I found a vegan cookie recipe that actually tastes…okay.”

“Aw, how nice!” Britta grabbed a cookie.

Jeff waved the tray away.  “I’m back on the low-carb thing.”

Shirley smiled stiffly.  “That’s okay.  I only put three weeks into testing vegan organic recipes to find something workable.  I’m sure low-carb vegan baked goods should be…no trouble.”

"If you grit your teeth any harder," said Jeff, "you're going to crack something."

Abed grabbed several cookies.  “I can eat extra.  I’ve been watching _Death Note_ , and I want to test the theory that eating only sweets makes your brain work better.”

“I think that theory is going to end in a very special lesson about malnutrition,” said Jeff. 

"So," asked Annie, nibbling politely on a vegan cookie, "When are you leaving?"

"End of May. They have a summer session starting in June, and since I finished my degree, I've just been taking continuing education courses.  My dad's going to fly out and make sure my apartment's set up.  He also wants to have a one-on-one talk with student services for some reason."

"That's nice," said Shirley. 

“There’s only one problem.”  Abed pulled out a notebook.  “Remember my plan to transplant the group to California?  I haven’t had time to put it in motion.  I found some pamphlets for Britta on psychology programs, and a Master’s program in forensics for Annie, but I don’t know how to get Shirley or Jeff over.”

“Abed, sweetie,” said Shirley.  “I’m not moving to California.  I’ll fly out and visit, and I’ll let you set up one of of those video-call things on my computer, even thought my pastor did warn that they can be a gateway to sin, but I’m not uprooting my family.”

Abed tilted his head thoughtfully.  “I can live with that.  I’ll miss you, but you can come back as a special guest star from time to time.  What about Jeff, though?”

“I’m a grown man,” said Jeff.  “I can take care of myself.  Listen, Abed, I know transitions are hard, but you’re going to meet a bunch of new friends out in LA.  Weird, geeky, interesting friends who share your passion.  You’re going to a place where they strangeness is a sign of depth and artistic genius.  They’ll love you.  And this group may not be as close as we’ve been here at Greendale, but we’ll always be part of each other’s lives.”  He leaned forward and put a hand on Abed’s.  “Everything will be okay.”

Abed looked up at Jeff.  “Let me know if you want to take up acting.  We might be able to pull an Alan Rickman. He broke into film when he was over forty.  Of course he had a long history of stage acting, but you have…really stylish hair.”

Jeff smirked sarcastically.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

—

To prove Abed wrong, Jeff started taking almost aggressively good care of himself.  It may have been the weirdest thing he'd ever done to show someone up...no, there was still the pottery class incident.

Jeff increased his workout routine and cut out all of his cheat days.  He got rigorous on the diet, giving up beer, sugar, and almost all carbs.   He did allow himself a low-fat whole-wheat turkey sandwich whenever he stopped by Shirley's. 

Yes, okay, that was once a week, sometimes less.  But Shirley had her business and Jeff had...well, teaching, sort of.  He'd made some half-hearted inquiries about legal work after the Save Greendale committee finished their task.  It turned out that the only people who wanted to hire someone who'd faked his Bachelor's degree and been disbarred didn't want to hire someone who'd appeared on TV in a superhero costume and run his business into the ground.

Jeff also indulged the occasional scotch, but never more than two.  And, for reasons he didn't like to think about, he threw away nearly everything in the medicine cabinet.  He kept the cholesterol pills, and some vitamin supplements, but he threw away the rest.  The Tylenol - that wasn't fun to give up with the added workouts - the half-empty bottle of anti-anxiety pills, everything he didn't need.

Not that he was thinking of doing anything unhealthy.  He just didn't want to risk making another stupid mistake.

_May_

Jeff, Annie, and Britta sat down at the outside picnic table for lunch. 

“And then there were three,” said Britta.  “Sorry.  Bit of a downer.”

“The apartment’s really quiet,” said Annie.  “I’ve started running Inspector Spacetime episodes in the background just so it won’t be so spooky.”

“You own Inspector Spacetime episodes?” asked Jeff.

“No, well…Abed never told me the password to your Netflix account, and I figured since I was going to be permanently logged in anyway…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jeff said.  “It’s okay.”

“Is it?” Annie asked.

“Yeah, I’ll just send you the bill every other month.”  Jeff grinned and took a bite of his kale wrap.

“I got Skype working!” said Britta.  “Abed’s doing well.  He said to say hi to everyone.  Also, Jeff, he says you need to get something more modern than a Blackberry, so you can do better video calls.”

“Right, so Abed can catch the subtle nuances of my facial expressions.  I'm sure he really misses being able to read those.” 

“Anyway,” said Britta.  “He’s really been talking up the schools in LA.  He found one with a really good holistic approach.  He’s trying to talk me into starting there in the fall.  I’m wondering if he misses our therapy.”

“Really?” Annie made a distressed face.

Jeff looked up.  “What?”

“It’s just…he found me a really good program where I could get a Master’s in forensics.  It’s designed for people who want to specialize in law enforcement, and they’re always looking for detectives on the LAPD.   Abed applied on my behalf, and the accepted me.  He even got me a partial scholarship!  I looked at opportunities in Greendale, and there are a few, but the crime rate is just so low!”

“Yeah,” said Jeff.  “Such a tragedy.”

“You go,” said Britta.  “It’s your dream.  Yeah, it’d be nice for me if I could go to California.  Me and Abed - a troubled cinematic genius and the only therapist who can unlock his potential - but, you know, Greendale works too.”

“No, it’s okay," said Annie.  "I can finish my degree here.  You go.”

Jeff frowned.  “Am I missing something?  Is moving to the same city to get your Master’s the new showing up at a party wearing the same dress?  You can both go.”

“I know,” said Britta.  “We just didn’t want to leave…”

“…Greendale without anyone to look after it,” said Annie.  “After working so hard on the Save Greendale committee, we didn’t want to abandon it.”

“Yes,” said Britta. “The school is very important to us.”

Jeff shrugged.  “I’m here.  Hell, I’m basically trapped here.  I can keep an eye on the place.”

“Yes,” said Britta.  “But we don’t want to the school to lose its support network.  We both care deeply about the well-being of the school, and don’t want it to feel unloved or like its father is abandoning it again.”

“You know,” said Annie desperately, “like how it’s founder, or metaphorical father, abandoned it to live with a computer in the basement.”

“Ooh, good save,” said Jeff.  “I’m totally fooled.”

“Sorry,” said Annie.

“Listen, I don’t know how Abed’s implanted this idea into everyone's head, but I’m fine.  My life is fine.  Everything is fine.”

“Well, you did overdose that one time and put yourself into a coma,” said Annie.  “That kind of freaked us out.”

“It was an accident!” said Jeff. 

“You took mystery pills with a whole bottle of scotch.”  Annie looked Jeff in the eye.  “What did you think would happen?”

“I took the pills _after_ I drank most of the scotch,” said Jeff.  “At that point, I actually was drunk enough to think I might wake up and be eight again."

“Right, like _that’s_ not worrying,” said Britta.  “Also, when you graduated and went back to law, you lost your money and went full-on evil.”

“Evil?”  Jeff scoffed.  “I wanted to sue the school for gross incompetence and get my friends big piles of money.   That’s mildly morally shady at the worst, and could debatably be considered downright noble.”

“See?” said Britta.  “You need someone to push back against your tendency to come up with BS arguments excusing your behavior.  You need real human relationships!”  She put her hand out on Jeff’s.

“Britta.”  Jeff took Britta’s hand   “I think I know what this is about.   Sure, the friendship is good, but you long for more.  You want to be closer.  You want a deep, profound, intimate connection.”  He looked her straight in the eye.  “But you are never going to be my therapist.”

“Jerk!” Britta jerked her hand away.  “And not that I want it, but I would be so much better than any therapist you’ve ever had.”

“Well, with Jeff’s therapists, that’s kind of a low bar,” said Annie.  “How do you pick them, anyway?”

“Ian recommends them," said Jeff.

“Professor Duncan?” Annie pulled a face.  She looked at Britta.

Britta slapped the table.  “That explains so much!”

“Whatever. Listen, I think I know what this is really about; the damaging messages society  
sends towards women.”

Annie and Britta looked at each other.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see where this goes,” said Britta.

“Annie, you’re brilliant, dedicated, and driven.  Britta, you’re brave, independent, and deeply concerned about society.  Both of you have the potential to do something amazing with your lives, and you’re both ready to pass on major professional opportunities.  Why?  Because you’ve decided some _man_ needs you to tend to his feelings.  You’re getting sucked in by society’s messages that women have to be caretakers and cater to men’s needs rather than building their own lives.   It's the patriarchy telling you what to do!"

“Screw that!” said Britta.  “I’m not going to sit around Greendale doing emotional caretaking, I’m going to go become a therapist!  Come on Annie, let’s go!”

“Um, I’ll be along in a little bit,” said Annie.

Britta bent down.  “Whatever you do, don’t let him suck you in with his wounded act.”  She marched off.

“So,” asked Annie, “what was that?”

“Greendale was having budget problems, so I got a free Women’s Studies class in lieu of my salary one week.  I figured it’d be useful for talking Britta into stuff.  I was kind of hoping it would work on you."

Annie shrugged.  "I'm not as...you know..."

"Concerned about women's rights?" asked Jeff.

"Jeff, stop!"  Annie looked at him.  "I want to know how you really feel.  Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

“I wouldn’t want that on my consciences,” said Jeff. “I actually meant that stuff about you being brilliant and dedicated  You’ve got a bright future ahead of you, and I don’t want you throwing that away because you think I’ll be sad without you.”

“Will you, though?”

“Who wouldn’t be?” asked Jeff.  “I’ll miss you.  But I’ll cope.  I promise.”

—

He started having trouble sleeping.  Nothing dramatic, he'd just go to bed and...lie there, staring pointlessly at the ceiling, bored out of his mind. 

He went to his doctor, who gave him a list of things to do in order to get good sleep habits, and told him to come back if it got worse.

It didn't get worse.  It didn't get better, either.  Jeff bought thicker curtains, ate light evening meals, stopped drinking completely for a few weeks, sipped chamomile tea, kept his phone out of the bedroom, and went to bed on a strict schedule.

It didn’t make a difference.

He slid back into keeping his phone by his bed, and allowing himself the occasional evening scotch.

That didn’t make a difference either.

He started to feel fuzzy and off at work.  Stuff would slip his mind and he’d blank out.  He actually made an effort, and that seemed to balance out.  It was Greendale, so a teacher who showed up sober every day and taught information that related to an actual academic subject looked good in comparison to the rest of the staff, even if he did occasionally freeze up and stare at the blackboard blankly for a minute or two before remembering what he was supposed to say.

It turned out the only thing more depressing than being a teacher at Greendale was actually putting an effort into teaching at Greendale, but he kept going.

It wasn’t like he had any better options on the table.

_August_

"...the screenwriting class is the really annoying one," said Abed from Annie's phone.  "Half the class couldn't follow the plot of _Inception_ unless you drew them a chart.  I'm tempted to play _Un Chien Andalou_ until someone cries."

The waitress slipped the check onto the table.

Everyone went quiet. 

Jeff reached out.  "I'll get it."

"No," said Britta.  "We'll split it."

"Please," said Jeff.  "I can swing a couple of pizzas.  Shirley brought brownies.  I want to do something.  This is our last night together."

"...for a while," said Annie.  "You two will visit, and we'll come back to visit you."

Right, thought Jeff.  And Troy will come sailing back and we'll all move into a giant house in LA together!  But he just smiled and didn't say anything.  He didn't want to bring down the group with a lecture on how no one stayed, and everyone ended up alone. 

"I'm thinking of taking my kids to Disneyland next summer," said Shirley.  "I could come see you then.  Jeffrey?" 

"Yeah."  Jeff smiled.  "Disneyland.  Sounds fun.  I need to use the restroom."  He stood and walked off to the little hallway with the men's room.

Annie followed him.   
   
Jeff stopped at the door.  "Are you going to follow me into the men's room again?  I'm pretty sure that doesn't go over well in places which aren't Greendale."

Annie looked up at him, with her wide Disney eyes.  "Jeff, I'm going to ask something and I want you to think about it before answering."

Jeff stopped.  "Okay, shoot."

"Come with me."

"What?"

Annie put up a hand.  "I'm serious.  Come with me.  We'll go to California, and we'll...see what happens.  I know you're afraid things might not work out between us, and so am I, but I don't want to drift apart without ever finding out."  She reached up a hand pulled his head down.  "One chance.  Please."  She kissed him.

It was a slow, soft kiss, and even with the taste of artificial strawberries, it was the sweetest thing that had happened in Jeff’s life for a long time.  Jeff closed his eyes and let himself sink into it.  But when it broke, he straightened up and shook his head.  "Annie, I can't.  It's not just that it might not work out.  I think I might be bad for you.  I'm not good at relationships.  And if I fail and hurt someone, I don't want that someone to be you."

"I'm willing to risk it," said Annie.

Jeff pulled away.  "I'm not."  He turned and stepped into the men's room.

He ducked into a stall and spent several minutes with his hands pressed against his face, trying not to think anything.

—

He got drunk that night.  Not like fortieth-birthday coma drunk, but drunker than he'd been in a while.  Maybe half a bottle.

He fell asleep on the couch, and slept restlessly, with weird, twitchy dreams.  At one point, another Jeff appeared, waving an electric saw and snarling "Cut it off, you pussy!"  Annie stood next to him, giggling. 

Jeff woke up with a foul taste in his mouth, and an inexplicable sense of doom.  He took a long shower, made himself a greasy breakfast - one good thing about going low carb was that he could still enjoy the occasional plate of bacon and eggs - and gathered up the rest of his scotch.

He couldn't bear to throw it away - you just don't pour eighteen-year-old Macallen down the sink - so he gave it to Ian. 

_October_

"So the professor said I had a natural aptitude for blood spatter analysis."  Annie giggled.  "The rest of the class started calling me Dexter, but I’m pretty sure they're just jealous.  So, how is everything with you?"

"Usual."  Jeff shrugged into the camera.  "Teaching. You know."

"Nothing going on?"

"Nothing new," said Jeff "I saw Shirley a couple of weeks ago.  Business seems to be taking off at the sandwich shop.  She says hi."

"Aw!" said Annie.  "Tell her I said hello back, and she needs to be on Skype more."

—

For the first time in he couldn't remember how long, Jeff went out to a bar looking to pick up a woman.  He ignored anyone who looked too young, or had straight dark hair.  He also ignored the Britta-voice in his head trying to get him to think about what that meant.

He found Sierra, who was thirty-one and had curly copper-colored hair and silky brown skin and didn't look like Annie at all.  They had a couple of beers, and things were going swimmingly, when she leaned in to kiss him.

She was wearing strawberry-flavored lip gloss.

Jeff broke the kiss and took a long swig of beer.  "I'm sorry.  I can't do this."

Sierra looked hurt.  "What is it?  Is it my hair?"  She touched her hair.  "I thought it was cute, but maybe it's just a mess?"

"No your hair's great.  It's not you, it's me.  You're wearing strawberry lip gloss, and..."

Sierra bit her lip.  "It makes me seem immature, doesn't it?  I was going for playful, but I'm probably too old for flavored lip gloss."

"No, it's not the lip gloss."

"You just said..."

Jeff sighed.  "There's a woman I've been trying not to be in love with for like five years now, and she wears flavored lip gloss.  I thought I was over her, but I'm not.  See?  For once 'It's not you, it's me' is actually true."

"Oh."  Sierra looked down.  "So it's not that I'm not attractive enough?"

Jeff laughed.  "Believe me, you're more than attractive enough.  And if I wasn't trying not to be a jerk, I'd jump into bed with you and distract myself for a night.  But it wouldn't be fair to you."

Sierra took a napkin and wiped off her lip gloss.  "I'm not sure what you were looking for, but jumping into bed and distracting myself for a night sounds good to me.  My last relationship ended kind of badly.  So, what do you think?"

Jeff blinked.  "You mean?"

"I'm pretty sure if we both want no-strings-attached distraction sex, that doesn't count as you being a jerk."

Jeff finished his beer.  "My place, or yours?" 

_November_

"So I asked if the anima was really a fundamental aspect of psychology or merely the byproduct of a sexist society that encourages men to think of women as fundamentally alien and other.  The professor was annoyed, but we got a really good discussion going."  Britta smiled.  "I think I might have found a few people for my feminist psychology study group."  She put her hand to her mouth.  "I'm sorry, saying study group probably brought up some feelings for you."

"So you're still desperate for someone to practice psychology at?" Jeff asked.  "You should explore your issues with needing to explore everyone's issues."

"...actually, we have a journaling project where we're supposed to analyze ourselves, and that might be a good area of focus," said Britta.  "But how are things for you?  Really?"

"Fine.  Good.  Still teaching.  I have a new girlfriend," Jeff lied.  "Sierra.  She works in insurance."  Sierra had actually stayed one night and slipped off, declining Jeff's offer to make her breakfast.  But he could imagine how Britta would react if he said _I pretty much go to work, do a job I'm not wild about, hit the gym, then sit at home alone watching Breaking Bad reruns_.  "I'm hanging out with Ian pretty regularly, too.  After the World Cup, Soccer Night turned into a regular thing."  Actually, going "Hey, we should hang out and watch soccer again" and then completely failing to make plans had turned into a regular thing.  "And I saw Shirley just last week."  That was technically true.  He'd grabbed a sandwich and waved hello at her from behind the counter.  "So, you still have pizza and Inspector Spacetime night with Annie and Abed?"

Britta smiled.  "Abed agreed we can run one Inspector Minerva episode a month."

—

Jeff actually watched the most recent episode mentioned on Abed's Facebook post.  It was...weird, and he kept getting distracted by the special effects, and apparently someone had decided it was a good idea to do plots where the beginning was also the end which helped set up the beginning, because time travel. 

Thoraxis was in it.  He was kind of fun.  Unlike the Inspector, who was in a confusing relationship with Constable Reggie, Thoraxis had an actual girlfriend.  She was a genius science prodigy who'd been sucked in by his charm, and was helping him build a device to destroy the Inspector's phone-booth-thingy.  Jeff thought she could do better than some creepy bug man. 

Thoraxis betrayed her and she ended up being killed by Blorgons. 

She had long dark hair and stared up at Thoraxis with huge, sad eyes when he betrayed her.

Jeff found himself fighting the inexplicable urge to cry.

_December_

"Thanks, Shirley, but I was going to spend Christmas with my mom."

"Mom, I was going to fly out to California to see my friends from school.  I haven't gotten to see them for months."

"Sorry, Britta, but Willy Junior called and begged me to come see him over Christmas.  I think I have to be there for him as a brother."

"Thanks for offering, Willy, but I don't really want to see Dad again, preferably ever.  Actually, I promised my friend Shirley I'd spend Christmas with her."

—

Jeff couldn't say why he lied to everyone.  He just...didn't want to see anyone, or have a conversation he couldn't duck out of by claiming his internet connection was bad.  He was pretty sure they'd expect eye contact and details of his personal life, and what would come spilling out would be more than he could handle. 

Plus, he had a nice rut going.  He'd nod to Hinkey, make five minutes small talk with Ian, unsuccessfully attempt to avoid the Dean, and provide a mediocre legal education to people who might, unlike him, go on to something better.   Disrupting things just felt like effort.

_January_

Annie sent him an email about a job offer in the prosecutor's office.  When they next Skyped, Jeff smiled and claimed he'd applied. 

Britta mails him a self-help book on loneliness.  He felt weirdly afraid to touch it.

_February_

Abed sent Jeff the script for a gritty cop drama, with a sarcastic comic-relief partner awkwardly shoehorned in.  Jeff jokingly claimed to be holding out for the lead role.

Abed nodded and frantically started scribbling out plot ideas. 

_March_

The emails and Skype calls had slowed to a trickle.  That was partly due to Jeff only answering half the time, but partly, Jeff suspected, because they were moving on.  The three of them didn't need Jeff to stay together. 

No one needed Jeff all that much.   There were still people who cared, but they'd move on.  And as much as he probably should, he couldn't get himself to care about being a mediocre teacher in a school with nonexistent academic standards. 

His life was going to go on like this, pointlessly and suffocatingly, forever.  And anything he could do would only make it worse.

_April_

“Greendale Ho!” shouted a voice across the parking lot.

Jeff turned.  It couldn't be.  

“Drop anchor!" Troy called out from the bow of his sailboat.  The driver parked the boat. 

Troy grinned and climbed down.  He was thinner, with a beard that didn't quite cover a scar on his cheek.  "Jeff!"  He ran up and gave Jeff a hug.  "I thought I'd never see you again!"  He looked up.  "I was captured by pirates, and had to escape using nothing but my plumbing and air-conditioning repair skills, and then Levar Burton said I had to keep sailing or I'd lose my inheritance, and I had to go all the way around the world, and it's been two years, but you're here!  And I'm back!"

Jeff held onto Troy.  "I can't believe this!  I thought you'd died!"

Troy broke the hug.  "So, where is everyone?"

"California, mostly.  Shirley's still in town.  She's got a new Shirley's Sandwiches on the other side of town."

"Abed?"  Troy bit his lip.  "How is he?  Is he okay?  Did he say anything about me?”

"He's fine.  He's in film school in Hollywood.  They love him out there.  And he’s missed you a lot.  He’ll be so excited to see you!"

"Then let's go!"  Troy pointed to the boat.  "I'm ready.  How soon can you pack?"

"I...um..." Jeff's brain froze up.  Troy was here, rich and having fought pirates and ready to get to California on a boat, and he wanted to take Jeff.  Just naturally, like it was the most obvious thing. 

"I...have my job, and...do you mean move to California?"

"Why not?" asked Troy.  "About time you left Colorado."  He gave Jeff a friendly elbow.  

"Um..."  Jeff knew there were good and rational reasons for why he should stay at Greendale while everyone else took off for an awesome new life, but he suddenly couldn’t think of any.  "What would I do?"

Troy shrugged.  "Whatever you want.  You could be my lawyer.  Actually, I could probably use a lawyer, since I just inherited a bunch of money and stuff.  Or you could do something else."

"You can do anything you want," Jeff said to himself.  "You just have to figure out what that is."

"What?"

Jeff shook his head.  "Just something Abed once told me."

He turned and looked through the gathering crowd. "Dean, there you are!  I quit."

The Dean went even paler. "Jeffrey, you don't mean that!"

"I do."  He turned.  "Troy, give me a week to settle everything."  He had to cancel his lease on his apartment, arrange movers...  "Wait, can I just throw my stuff on the boat?  Then give me three days." 

The Dean let out a howl of pain.  "No, Jeffrey, you can't leave!  I need you!”

“So long.”  Jeff gave Greendale a quick salute.  “It’s been life-changing, but it’s time for me to move on.”  He climbed up the side of the boat.  “Let’s go, Troy!”

“Weigh anchor!” Troy called.  The boat started driving.

Jeff stood on the deck.  The fresh air, the wind through his hair, the fact that he was not in a classroom handing out smudgy photocopies for the students to throw away, all of that meant that, for the first time in a long time, he felt really good.

Most importantly, Troy was back.  And they were going to find the rest of the group. 

Jeff didn’t know what his future would hold, but he was sure it would be interesting.

And most importantly, they’d be together again.


End file.
